Top 5 fastest electric cars on the road

You probably don’t think first about true performance when it comes to electric vehicles, as problems like range, distance between charging stations and price comes up first. But then again, with all that torque available from start, why not dream about a quarter mile drag?

Although electric cars have been heralded for at least a decade as the “saviors” from the pollution problem, projected sales inside the meeting rooms never quite added to the real life – as customers are slow to adopt an entirely new technology, untested by time and still plagued with range and charging issues. But, the electric cars are here and they’re here to stay and although they’re still quite expensive, there are offerings in our Top 5 for all price ranges.

First up, we have an honorary mention for the world’s best selling full electric car, Nissan’s Leaf (0-100 km/h in 11.5 seconds) – which had no change of catching up our top five, but has earned a place in the history books after it was the first electric to surpass the 100,000 units sold mark.

5. Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive – the electric powered version of the known hatchback gets from 0 to 100 km/h in just 7.9 seconds – and a note should be made that it’s actually not thanks to Mercedes, but Tesla, the supplier of the electric powertrain and battery pack.

3. BMW i3 – the electric city car was – unlike the previous entries in the list – developed from scratch as an electric car, with a broad range of innovations. The best thing is that it’s carrying the BMW performance DNA, reaching 100 km/h in just 7.2 seconds thanks to the 130 kW (170 hp) electric motor and the lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic chassis.

2. Toyota RAV4 EV – this entry is not set to last much, because after just 2,500 units the contract between Toyota and… again Tesla will conclude, with the model axed. Until then, the fortunate ones who bought the model can brag about the Tesla powertrain that allows a 0-100 km/h sprint of 7 seconds.

1. Tesla Model S Performance – we’re sure you saw this coming from a mile. With a luxury set-up and price, but also high performance sedan territory, you could think about Tesla’s creation as a very silent BMW M5. Yep, the performance is in that territory – with a 0-100-km/h time of just 4.2 seconds.